An algorithm is introduced to remove the directional ambiguities in ocean surface winds measured by scatterometers, which requires scatterometer data only. It is based on two versions of PBL (planetary boundary layer) models and a low-pass filter. A pressure field is first derived from the median-filtered scatterometer winds, is then noise-filtered, and is finally converted back to the winds, respectively, by an inverted PBL model, a smoothing algorithm, and a PBL model. The derived wind field is used to remove the directional ambiguities in the scatterometer data. This new algorithm is applied to Hurricane Eugene and produces results comparable to those from the current standard ambiguity removal algorithm for NASA/JPL SeaWinds project, which requires external numerical weather forecast/analyses data. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union